- NHS hospital
King's College Hospital
Assessment report published 28 August 2026
Contents
Ratings - Services for children & young people
Our view of the service
We carried out a short announced, responsive and focused inspection of services for Children and Young People on 12 and 13 May 2026 due to risk and follow-up on last assessment.
During our inspection we visited the following wards: Lion Ward, Princess Elizabeth Ward, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, Philip Issacs Day Case Unit, Rays of Sunshine Ward, Paediatric Short Stay Unit, Thomas Cook and Children’s Outpatient Department. We spoke with 33 members of staff including nursing and medical staff of different grades, teachers of inpatient children, healthcare assistants, therapy specialists and managers. We spoke with over 16 patients and their relatives.
We rated the service as requires improvement. We previously found 3 breaches of regulation around incidents, mandatory training, staffing, records, risk assessment, culture, leadership and governance. Although leaders had started to take action to address areas of concern identified at the previous assessment, further improvements were needed to improve performance.
During this assessment, we identified breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. These breaches were for regulations 12 (safe care and treatment), regulation 15 (premises and equipment), regulation 17 (good governance) and regulation 18 (staffing). An action plan will be requested from the trust to address these breaches upon the final publication of this report. These were around staffing, environment, mandatory training, records, risk assessments, incidents and governance. Staff did not always assess risks to people's health and safety or mitigate them where identified. Governance systems and audits were not effective in identifying or addressing areas for improvement.
However, staff were up to date with their appraisal, and children and young people were treated with dignity, kindness, respect and compassion.
We have requested an action plan in response to the above breaches from the provider at the time of publication of the formal report.
People's experience of this service
Leaders worked to improve the experience of people who accessed the service through various initiatives. This included engaging the young ambassadors to improve the service and hosting special visits of an author to visit children on the wards during the 2026 world book day.
The service had a ‘King’s Schoolroom that provided educational support and provision for children and young people that were inpatients or day patients, from reception to Year 13. We observed staff supporting secondary school children to undertake their national exams during the assessment. This ensured illness or medical treatment did not disrupt children and young people’s education.
The people we spoke with during the assessment spoke highly positively about staff, the service and care received. Staff were described as warm, helpful, kind, competent, professional, and respectful. We observed multidisciplinary staff treating children, young people and their relatives with compassionate care, respect and dignity throughout the assessment.
Children, young people and their relatives spoke positively about the food, playroom, youth room and parent room. Parents in the neonatal intensive care unit spoke positively about the dedicated breastfeeding support received. People felt listened to and felt staff were attentive and hygienic. Parents felt their questions were answered and staff kept them updated about their children’s care and treatment.
However, a few parents felt that sometimes plans progressed slowly, updates needed to be consistent, information needed to be timely and complete to reduce stress. Also, communication between teams could be improved and strengthened.